Automatic Capture Always with F11

[jicman]

Greetings and Salutations!

I would like to always capture my screen shots with Irfanview. The problem is that sometimes I close it. Is there a way that Irfanview can stay running in the taskbar and when I hit F11 it will be awaken and capture the screen I want capture? I have read a lot in the site and the FAQ, but I don-t seem to find this option.

Is this possible?

thanks,

josé

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

Obviously, if IrfanView is closed, screen capture cannot work, so you must always remember to minimise it. As far as I know, there is no close to system tray, or minimise to system tray option.

That is why I recommend using a third-party utility for screen capture, which should be loaded at Windows startup, and remains running unless you intentionally exit the program.

FastStone Capture takes about 400 Kbytes of RAM while in the system tray. IrfanView, with the Screen Capture plugin running takes 2,312 Kbytes of RAM, and has far fewer options.

FastStone Capture can also open, edit, and save images, but I really wouldn't recommend using it for that. IrfanView is much better suited to the task.

[Skippybox]

Obviously, if IrfanView is closed, screen capture cannot work, so you must always remember to minimise it. As far as I know, there is no close to system tray, or minimise to system tray option.

That is why I recommend using a third-party utility for screen capture, which should be loaded at Windows startup, and remains running unless you intentionally exit the program.

FastStone Capture takes about 400 Kbytes of RAM while in the system tray. IrfanView, with the Screen Capture plugin running takes 2,312 Kbytes of RAM, and has far fewer options.

Actually, you can capture when IrfanView is closed using a command line option. And since IrfanView will be closed, it takes up no RAM when not in use! The trick is to put your command line in a shortcut (remember to use full paths!) and assign it a shortcut key, such as F11, in the shortcut's Properties. Just remember that using that key could be conflicting with other software or the OS. You can also create sophisticated batch file routines, if so needed. In Help, using the capture feature with the command line is described in detail:

Example for /capture:

i_view32.exe /capture=0
Capture the whole screen.

i_view32.exe /capture=5
Start in Capture mode, use last used capture dialog settings.


capture values:
0 = whole screen
1 = current monitor, where mouse is located
2 = foreground window
3 = foreground window - client area
4 = rectangle selection
5 = start in capture mode (can't be combined with other options)


Advanced examples:

i_view32.exe /capture=2 /convert=c:\test.jpg
Capture foreground window and save result as file.

i_view32.exe /capture=2 /convert=c:\capture_$U(%d%m%Y_%H%M%S).jpg
Capture foreground window and save result as file; the file name contains time stamp.

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

Just remember that using that key could be conflicting with other software or the OS.

Another good reason to use FastStone, since it uses the PrintScreen key for its shortcuts, and so won't be likely to conflict with other applications.

Your efforts to write batch files are admirable, but they are misguided because it is an inferior solution to the problem. It is cumbersome to change the configuration, and you need to create several shortcuts to capture different regions. The shortcuts for FastStone Capture (or other 3rd party utilities like Gadwin) can be configured via a simply dialogue and show on its popup menu if you need a quick reminder.



Note that I leave the Print Screen key unused so that I can capture the full window to grab FastStone dialogues.

[Skippybox]

In actuality, I don't really use command line options for capturing or other tasks. I merely was pointing out a possible method that might be preferred by someone. I don't necessarily recommend it, I'm only laying it out there for consideration. In many instances, users have seem to show an interest, despite possibly encountering a problem with that choice.

Anyway, creating/editing a single shortcut with a very simple command and key can be quite easy. I doubt anyone really would go for a batch file or manage several shortcuts, unless they really needed it. GUI's are easier to interact with, and I totally support using them, but clearly command line options must be desired, or else they wouldn't be offered by developers.